Soul-Warming Decadence
This recipe is from the Flavors cookbook, and the real secret is — butter and cream! This dish is so rich and creamy that I definitely wouldn’t recommend it more than a couple of times a year! It’s the perfect complement to your holiday feast, and a great spoonful of comfort if you need a little hug from your food.
I picked up a ricer from Sur la Table, but you can find one at most cookware shops or online.
Print Recipe
Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Servings: 8 people
Ingredients
Mashed Potatoes
- 4 pounds russet (baking potatoes), peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 1/2 cup roasted garlic purée
- salt
- 2/3 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- Fresh Chives, to taste, thinly sliced
Roasted Garlic Purée
- 2 very large heads regular (not elephant) garlic, about 1/2 pound total
- 2 small sprigs fresh rosemary
- 2 tablespoons dry white wine
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon herbes de Provence, crumbled
Instructions
Mashed Potatoes
- In a large pan, cover the potatoes with cold water. Set over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Partially cover and cook, stirring once or twice, until the potatoes are very tender, about 25 minutes. Drain, reserving 1/3 cup of the potato cooking water.
- Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the cream, garlic puree, and 2 teaspoons salt. Bring the mixture to a simmer over low heat, while whisking to combine the ingredients, then remove from the heat and keep hot.
- Immediately force the potatoes through a ricer into a medium-sized pot, or place them in the pot and mash them with a potato masher. Set over low heat and stir the mashed potatoes constantly, but not whisking, for 1 minute. Then gradually stir in the cream mixture, the reserved potato water, the sour cream and the pepper. Vigorously beat the potatoes for 30 seconds or so, adding the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, as you beat. Add additional salt to taste. Sprinkle with chives and serve immediately.
Roasted Garlic Purée
- Position rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350F.
- With a serrated knife, cut off the top quarter of the garlic heads, exposing the cloves inside. Set each garlic head in a 9-inch square of heavy-duty foil and partially draw up the sides. Lay the rosemary sprigs atop the garlic. Drizzle the wine and then the olive oil into and around he heads of garlic. Sprinkle the crumbled herbs over all. Enclose the garlic tightly in the foil.
- Set the packets on the rack and bake until the garlic inside the peels is very tender, 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cool the garlic to room temperature.Makes about 1/2 cup